Chlorella vulgaris, a microalgae important to be used in Biotechnology: a review

Abstract

Chlorella vulgaris is a microalgae belonging to the order of the Chlorococcales, of the Oocytaceae family, of the genus Chlorella, which has a green colour due to the chloroplasts it contains. Its shape is spherical with a size that varies from 1 to 10 microns. These microalgae contain, in addition to chlorophyll, a significant amount of intracellular proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamin C, β-carotenes and B vitamins (B1, B2, B6 and B12), which is why it is commonly used for the preparation of food supplements, as well as for the production of cosmetics, clinical treatments and even for the detoxification of heavy metals in wastewater. For this reason, the following review speaks from the morphology of the microalgae C. vulgaris to recent investigations regarding the primary and secondary metabolites. This research also provides an overview of the areas of opportunity for the development of new products and process improvements in order to increase the existing yields so far to optimize responses based on the desired products, the formulation of various growth media or the design of new photobioreactors which allow greater control of growth conditions and easy scaling for high productions at the industrial level that cover the current global needs.